STATUS/الوضع: Issue 2.1 is Live!

Status / الوضع, is an evolving critical, collaborative, and independent monthly audio journal combining analysis, reporting, and satire. It is mainly comprised of hard-hitting interviews/conversations, on-the-scene reports, reviews, informed commentary, and readings. Interviews from the region and beyond feature activists, journalists, scholars, artists, unusual conduits, and ordinary people. We will highlight movers and shakers in “civil society” and beyond, who animate the new spaces, places, and modes of action that the uprisings engendered.

Issue 2.1

In this issue, Status hosts speak to several up and coming artists and musicians in and from the Arab world. Bassam Haddad interviews live artist Tania El Khoury, who addresses the notion of art as politics, and the process of making her solo and collaborative live art projects. Haddad also speaks to Egyptian musician Ramy Essam on his journey as both a singer and activist pushing boundaries on what can be said and done. Adel Iskandar interviews cartoonists and satirists Andeel and Wael Attili, who share their respective life experiences in Egypt and Jordan have contributed to their work today. Andeel, Egypts most irreverent cartoonist questions "revolutionary art," and Attili, founder of Jordan`s top new media, cartooning, and digital animation outfit discusses the impetus behind Kharabeesh`s mission. Adding to the conversation on digital media is Noura Erakat`s interview with Amer Shomali, who discusses his new animated film Wanted 18, including the filmmaking process, creative resistance during the first intifada, and why he chose cows as his protagonists. Finally, rounding out this riveting collection of interviews is Malihe Razazan`s interview with Nabil Al Raee and Alia Al Rosan from The Freedom Theater in Jenin, Palestine, exploring theater as a tool of resistance and social change.

Three guests take on current affairs in Egypt, discussing civil society, popular Islamic activism, and the phases of post- and pre-revolution. Bilal Fadl shares with Sinan Antoon his experiences traveling, writing, and living in New York, and explores the process of evaluating revolutions and counter-revolution. Lina Attalah interviews Gasser Abdel Razek of the Egyptian Intiative for Personal Rights, who speaks of the battle for human rights and its shaping of a civil society movement in Egypt amid growing and unprecedented restrictions. Finally, a founding editor of Jadaliyya`s Critical Currents in Islam page, Abdullah Al-Arian, sits down with Anthony Alessandrini to discuss his new book, Answering the Call: Popular Islamic Activism in Sadat`s Egypt, and how it speaks to popular Islamic activism in Egypt today.

In a diverse exploration of political economies, Zakia Salime delves into the historical nuances of feminist social activism in Morocco in her conversation with Samia Errazzouki; Andrew Gardner lays out current labor laws and issues of migrant rights in Qatar; and anthropologist and physician, Omar Dewachi, discusses the building, dismantling, and outsourcing of the Iraqi health care system in his interview with host Rania Masri. And in an essential conversation on the Senate Select Committee`s report confirming the United States` use of torture and human experimentation globally, Lisa Hajjar discusses her cover article for The Nation.

New Segments on Academic Freedom, Independent/Alternative Music, and Quick Thoughts!

In addition to this wide array of one-on-one interviews, Issue 2.1 also includes our first set of Special Segments by regular hosts. In her first segment, musical composer and oud player Huda Asfour explores "Indie and Alternative Music Production in the Arab World," highlighting several new artists in her conversation with Kinda Hassan and discussing the emerging Nawa record label with Khyam Allami. "Reclaiming Academic Freedom," hosted by Tareq Radi, we hear from professors and students directly engaged in the issues surrounding political speech in academia. The segment illuminates the challenges of passing academic boycott, as well as the evolution of the tactics of repression affecting both students and faculty. We have also added a Quick Thoughts segment, which features short interviews on a variety of issues, some of which will become regular features (see below). In this issue, Toby Jones and Omar Dahi give us updates on Saudi Arabia and the humanitarian crisis in Syria, respectively, and Laila Sakr breaks down what hashtags and topics are trending in the Middle East.

One of the many issues brought up in our special segment on academic freedom is the recent debate on academic boycott that took place at the American Anthropological Association (AAA). A series of panels were held at the December 2014 AAA conference to raise awareness about the boycott and about human rights violations in Palestine. These panels, some of which attracted audiences of 200-250 people, promoted conversation about the possibility of the AAA passing a resolution to boycott Israeli institutions complicit with the occupation. Status has published the audio and transcript of the panel entitled “What is the Role of Academia in Political Change? The Case of Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) and Israeli Violations Of International Law."